Number of pensioners in home shares triples in a decade: Over 45s now make up one in six of sharers as a result of hovering rents

The number of pensioners living in house shares has trebled over the past decade, new figures reveal.

And over-45s comprise a sixth of house sharers as rental fees soar, according to new research. 

The new figures come days after it was warned Labour’s Net Zero plan to make landlords enforce new energy efficiency rules could ramp up tenants’ bills.

Meanwhile, the headline CPI inflation rate hit 3.4 per cent in December, it was revealed – an unexpected jump from 3.2 per cent the previous month.

Experts have raised concerns about what they call ‘prohibitively high’ rents, leaving many under-25s reluctant to leave their parental family homes while OAPs are having to share with others.

Older people are increasingly being priced out of owning their own homes, according to flatshare site SpareRoom.

‘Prohibitively’ high rents are being blamed for the fact fewer under 25s are leaving home – while older renters are being increasingly forced to share homes.

Under-25s now make up just over a quarter, 26 per cent, of the flatshare market – down from almost a third, or 32 per cent, a decade ago.

Renters aged over 45 now make up 16 per cent of the flatshare market, a rise from 10 per cent in 2015 – while the proportion of over-65 flatsharers has tripled.

Almost four in ten flatmates now live in multi-generational households, in which the age difference between the oldest and youngest adult is 20 years or more.

Monthly UK rents have leapt in the past five years by 29 per cent to £749.

Analysts say many young people just starting out in their careers have little choice but to stay in the parental family home.

And now under-25s make up just over a quarter, or 26 per cent, of the flatshare market – down from almost a third, 32 per cent, in 2015, the new statistics suggest.  

The most represented age group remains those aged between 25 and 45, making up 42% of the flatshare market – although down from 45 per cent a decade ago.

Meanwhile, those in their late 40s now make up 16 per cent of the flatshare market, up from 10 per cent in 2015.

And while over-65s represent 2.4 per cent of all flatsharers, that percentage has tripled in the past decade from 0.8 per cent.

And the proportion of 55-to-64-year-olds has more than doubled from 2.6 per cent to 5.3 per cent.

Meanwhile, those in their late 40s who would have once left flatsharing behind – either to get on the property ladder or to rent solo – have been increasing.

And as more approach retirement without enough money saved, the number of over 65s sharing their homes with lodgers has grown by 38 per cent in the past two years.

According to a January 2026 survey of 3,564 flatmates by SpareRoom, 38 per cent of people now live in multi-generational households where the age difference between the oldest and youngest adult is 20 years or more.

Close to a quarter, 23 per cent have or are flatmates with a 30-plus-year age gap.

SpareRoom director Matt Hutchinson said: ‘It used to be the case that multi-generational households were a rarity in flatsharing.

‘The market was dominated by groups of twenty and thirty-somethings chasing jobs and opportunities in cities and major towns.

‘Today, unaffordably high rents are shifting household dynamics as well as changing the geography of flatsharing too.

‘The youngest are being priced out of the rental market altogether, as older renters are priced out of home ownership or renting solo.

‘Meanwhile, those priced out of cities are migrating to more affordable suburban towns.

‘The market adapts but the long-term picture is concerning, as the UK is not a country that’s geared towards renting for life.

‘Those who haven’t built equity in property could be much worse off in their retirement years unless something changes dramatically.’